A number which gives the strength of a person’s serum reaction to bacteria.
A numerical measurement of the power of a person’s serum to attack invading bacteria and prepare them for destruction by phagocytes. It is measured by dividing the average number of bacteria in the blood per phagocyte in the presence of immune serum by the corresponding number in the presence of normal serum. A vaccine increases the opsonic index.
A ratio of the number of bacteria that are ingested by leukocytes contained in the serum of a normal individual, compared with the number ingested by leukocytes in the patient’s own blood serum.